Keibul Lamjao National Park complete detail – updated

Keibul Lamjao National Park complete detail – updated. Geography of Keibul Lamjao National Park. Dominant flora and fauna of Keibul Lamjao National Park. How to Reach Keibul Lamjao National Park. The agriculture and fishing activities within the area of park have been prohibited giving this rare deer a chance to survive and multiply.

Total area of the park is 40.00 Km2. It was established as a National Park in the year of 1977. The park is situated on the southern shore of the Loktak Lake – the largest fresh water lake in Eastern India, which has been declared a Ramsar site. The fauna in the park is also rare and unique.

Rare wild cats like the marbled cat and the Asian golden cat are occasionally seen in the national park. Other animals like the Himalayan black bear and the Malayan bear are also seen. A variety of fishes and reptiles like tortoises, snakes like viper and cobras are also found………….

National park is an area which is strictly reserved for the betterment of the wildlife & biodiversity, and where activities like developmental, forestry, poaching, hunting and grazing on cultivation are not permitted. Their boundaries are well marked and circumscribed.

Keibul Lamjao National Park

Keibul Lamjao National Park is a beautiful place, located in the Bishnupur district of the state of Manipur. The park is home to the endangered brow-antlered deer or Sangai.

The park was initially declared as a Sanctuary in 1966, to preserve the natural refuge of the endangered Brow-antlered Deer – Sangai (Rucervus eldi eldi).

In 1839 this specie was discovered and after that in 1951 it is reported to be extinct,but after that it is rediscovered and now Keibul Lamjao is only home to this unique deer specie which attracts a large number of tourists to Keibul Lamjao National Park.

It was established as a National Park in the year of 1977. Total area of the park is 40.00 Km2. Keibul Lamjao National is world’s only floating national park and last natural habitat of Brow antlered deer – Sangai (Cervus eldi eldi).

The park is situated on the southern shore of the Loktak Lake – the largest fresh water lake in Eastern India, which has been declared a Ramsar site. The fauna in the park is also rare and unique.

On Loktak Lake there are floating organic substances which are decomposed plant material which gives it a face of floating national park. This decomposed plant material is locally known as phumdis. 3/4 part Keibul Lamjao is covered with Phumdis. Islands formed by mats of dense aquatic grass gives it an appearance of floating on the lake.

The thickness of phumdi varies from few centimeters to two meters. The phumdi floats with 4/5 part under water. The campaign will start in 2014 and will continue till the national park is declared World Heritage Site.

The brow-antlered deer is also called the dancing deer. The deer has also been inspiration for Manipuri dance traditions.

Rare wild cats like the marbled cat and the Asian golden cat are occasionally seen in the national park. Other animals like the Himalayan black bear and the Malayan bear are also seen. A variety of fishes and reptiles like tortoises, snakes like viper and cobras are also found.

The agriculture and fishing activities within the area of park have been prohibited giving this rare deer a chance to survive and multiply.

History

In 1839 this specie was discovered and after that in 1951 it is reported to be extinct, but after that it is rediscovered and now Keibul Lamjao is only home to this unique deer specie which attracts a large number of tourists to Keibul Lamjao National Park.

The entire Loktak Lake was protected and declared a sanctuary in October 1953 and it was officially notified as a sanctuary in the year of 1966, to preserve the natural refuge of the endangered Brow-antlered Deer – Sangai (Rucervus eldi eldi).

It was established as a National Park in the year of 1977. Total area of the park is 40.00 Km2.

With the declaration of the area as National Park and subsequent protection and conservation measures taken up by the Department, the population has increased considerably.

During the March 1995, 152 Sangai – 58 stags (male), 69 hinds (female) and 25 fawn were surviving along with 118 Hog deer and 100 Wild boar in the Park.

It has a pride of place in the folklore and culture of the Manipur state and is the state animal of Manipur. From a small herd of 14 deer in 1975, its population was reportedly 155 in 1995.

Geography

Keibul Lamjao National Park is located in the Bishnupur district of the state of Manipur. The park is home to the endangered brow-antlered deer or Sangai. The park is situated in the tropical zone.

The park is situated on the southern shore of the Loktak Lake – the largest fresh water lake in Eastern India, which has been declared a Ramsar site.

On Loktak Lake there are floating organic substances which are decomposed plant material which gives it a face of floating national park. This decomposed plant material is locally known as phumdis. 3/4 part Keibul Lamjao is covered with Phumdis. Islands formed by mats of dense aquatic grass gives it an appearance of floating on the lake.

The thickness of phumdi varies from few centimeters to two meters. The phumdi floats with 4/5 part under water. Total area of the park is 40.00 Km2. The distinctive nature of the park is that it is “too deep to be marsh, too shallow to be a lake”.

The park has several distinguishing features. Apart from the vegetation and terrain, an important highlight of the park is the Loktak lake (6, 475 ha.), the largest freshwater lake in India; a large portion of which falls within the park.

The park encompasses three hills of Pabot, Toya and Chingiao. The park is surrounded by marshes and hillocks. The hills provide shelter for its large mammals during the monsoons.

The Imphal Valley in Manipur is a highland plateau that includes an area of about 124,250 ha. The open plateau is pockmarked by innumerable small hillocks.

The area is watered by six major streams and their numerous tributaries that flow down from the hills into the central plain. The waterways merge in the plains from where they proceed southwards past a narrow gorge to pour into the Chindwin River in Burma, which is a tributary of the Irrawaddy.

The reeds and grasses grow on the phumdi which serve as food for the Sangai deer. During the rainy season the animals of the park seek refuge on the three hills within the park.

A number of streams too crisscross Keibul Lamjao, which, combined with extensive marshes, make the park a typical wetland.

The Loktak Lake, which is really what the park is all about, is covered almost completely by floating mats of the dense aquatic grass known locally as `phumdi’. Other wild grasses, including a variety of wild rice, form the bulk of the vegetation, which supports an astoundingly large and diverse fauna.

The best time of the year to visit the Keibul Lamjao National Park is between the months of October to April.

How to Reach

By Air – Nearest airport is Imphal airport, about 53 Km from the Keibul Lamjao National Park. Imphal airport is well connected by road network to Keibul Lamjao National Park.

By Rail – Nearest railway station is Dimapur railway station, about 215 Km from the Keibul Lamjao National Park. Dimapur railway station is well connected by road network to Keibul Lamjao National Park.

By Road – Keibul Lamjao National Park is well connected to Major Cities and Places by road network. There are a number of government and privately operated vehicles that go to Keibul Lamjao National Park at frequent intervals. The nearest city is Imphal.

Accommodations

Accommodations are available at Keibul Lamjao National Park.

Forest Rest House, Keibul Lamjao

Sendra Tourist Centre, Sendra

Moirang Tourist Centre

Hotel Imphal, run by the Tourism Department of the Govt. of Manipur provides convenient tourist coaches that ply to-and-fro between the airport and the hotel. Air-conditioned rooms are also available here. Tel.: 0385-220459.

There is also a tourist bungalow on Sendra Island in the middle of the Loktak Lake, from where visitors can get a glimpse of the other small islands on the lake that are actually formed from floating weed.